Accidentally bitten by a dog

"Your Highness, I don't think this would be appropriate."

The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Shen Yangge timidly continued trying to coax him. "Your Highness, what if that person had something important to tell me? Wouldn't I be asking for serious trouble if I refused to listen?"

[-Tsk, would you cut off the emperor's ears if he spoke to me?]

[-Aren't you afraid of being thrown in prison for something so unfilial?]

Shen Yangge was only grumbling to himself. He knew that no matter how insane the Crown Prince was, he couldn't possibly attack the emperor and empress openly-unless he had a death wish.

His jaw was starting to ache. Without realizing it, Shen Yangge parted his lips slightly, offering glimpses of the rosy interior of his mouth. Under these circumstances, it almost seemed enough to tempt someone into a crime.

The Crown Prince took one glance, then released his grip on Shen Yangge's chin.

As his hand dropped and withdrew into his sleeve, he silently rubbed the fingertips that had pinched that face. A trace of warmth seemed to linger there.

"I understand."

The "impending doom" hanging over Shen Yangge's head finally dispersed. He took a small step back, positioning himself somewhere he considered reasonably safe, and said, "...Your Highness, shall I get back to my duties?"

"Mm."

Whew. Could his madness strike at any moment?

Why did he seem so normal when dealing with other people? Shen Yangge really couldn't figure it out.

After a day of recording events, he had written down a whole pile of nonsense. He kept feeling that other court historians didn't record things this way, but as far as his limited memories told him, this position existed to document all sorts of trivial matters.

As the sky gradually darkened, Shen Yangge asked the Crown Prince for permission to leave. No matter what, he had to return to the Shen Residence tonight. If he stayed here any longer, he would practically turn into another version of this lunatic Crown Prince.

Before he left the palace, the Crown Prince said nothing else, only assigning people to escort him out.

Once he was gone, the Crown Prince dismissed everyone from the hall and remained there alone, summoning no one all night.

After repeatedly trying and failing to turn down the sedan chair offered for his departure, Shen Yangge simply agreed. He was escorted to the palace gates with a "clear conscience."

He had thought he would have to walk back to the Shen Residence. To his surprise, the residence's servants were already waiting at the palace gates. When they saw him, they hurried over in delight. "Second Young Master!"

Shen Yangge was baffled. His gaze swept over them, and after a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Are you from the Shen Residence?"

"Yes, Second Young Master. The master ordered us to wait here for you."

A weasel paying a New Year's visit to a chicken-nothing good could come of this.

Shen Yangge said, "Let's go back."

"Yes, Second Young Master!"

Throughout the journey, Shen Yangge wondered what nasty little scheme that scumbag father of his was cooking up.

When he returned to the residence and saw his scumbag father's haggard face, Shen Yangge raised an eyebrow.

What was going on? It had only been a day and a night, yet the man looked as though he'd been smoking weed.

Abandoning his former expression of disgust, Shen Zhi spoke to Shen Yangge like a loving father. "Yang'er, have you learned anything while serving at the Crown Prince's side?"

Ha. So that was what this was about.

His scumbag father was fishing for information. If Shen Yangge remembered correctly, Shen Zhi later pledged allegiance to the Seventh Prince's faction. After the Crown Prince ascended the throne, the Shen Residence was among the first to face execution.

For now, Shen Zhi was still reasonably sensible. He played all sides, able to exchange a few friendly words with people from any faction. Recently, though, he seemed to be getting along especially well with the Seventh Prince's supporters.

Whatever fate awaited this scumbag father meant little to him, but the original owner's mother...

Shen Yangge said, "I learned how to write?"

A vein bulged at Shen Zhi's temple. "What did you say?"

Shen Yangge desperately wanted to pick his ear, but he restrained the uncouth impulse lest he infuriate this scumbag father and get sent back to face the ancestral tablets again.

"I'm only a Junior Court Historian. What else could I learn besides writing? His Highness has countless affairs to attend to every day and no time to teach me anything else. Besides, I'm not qualified to receive instruction from him."

Shen Zhi frowned. "Didn't you spend last night at the Eastern Palace?"

"If squeezing into a kennel with a dog-the Crown Prince-counts."

Having failed to get an answer to a single question he wanted to ask, Shen Zhi couldn't bear to look at this aggravating wretch any longer. He waved him away. Surprisingly, he didn't scold him this time.

Shen Yangge had no desire to find out what had happened to him. He ambled back to his own quarters, shut and locked the door, then undressed and lay down on the soft bed, drifting into sleep.

When he woke, dawn had yet to break. Faint footsteps sounded outside his door, sweeping away most of his drowsiness. He sat up in bed, somewhat wary.

He tiptoed to the door and pressed his ear against it.

"...Is he really asleep?"

"He should be, shouldn't he? We put so much calming incense and sleeping medicine in his room. There's no way he could wake up."

"But what if he really isn't human?"

Two maids were talking outside the door. Their voices sounded familiar. Shen Yangge thought for a moment; he seemed to have heard them in the mourning hall.

The two maids continued. "Why don't you go in first? I'll follow you."

"No. We go together. Besides, Third Miss said that if we don't kill him tonight, she'll take our lives tomorrow."

After repeatedly trying to push the task onto each other, the two maids finally worked up their courage and pushed open the heavy door.

Hiding beside the wardrobe, Shen Yangge looked surprised. He remembered locking the door before going to sleep. How had they gotten in?

Before he could work it out, the two maids crept to the bedside and raised their daggers, aiming at the mound beneath the covers in the middle of the bed. "Second Young Master, we're sorry!"

With that, they stabbed down viciously!

"No, this isn't right! There's no one in the bed!"

The two maids panicked. They had never imagined that the Second Young Master, who should have been lying unconscious in bed, would disappear.

For a moment, they were utterly at a loss.

Shen Yangge emerged from beside the wardrobe with his hair hanging loose. He casually scooped up some dust from the wall and smeared it over his face, then gave an eerie smile, stretched out both arms, and slowly approached the two maids.

Feeling an ominous chill behind them, the maids turned involuntarily. In the pitch-black room, a figure seemed to be approaching them slowly.

As the moonlight gradually revealed the figure, its strange stance and twisted hands made both maids scream in unison. "Aaaaaah!"

Rustle, rustle...

Oil lamps were lit throughout the Shen Residence.

Hurried footsteps approached from the distance.

Before long, Shen Yangge's room was full of people.

"What happened?"

The first to arrive were Madam Shen and the maids attending her.

"Yang'er, what's wrong?"

Concern written across her face, Madam Shen stepped forward and took Shen Yangge's hand, examining him carefully. "Yang'er, why are you covered in bruises? And your neck-what on earth happened?"

Shen Yangge answered without the slightest hesitation. "I accidentally got bitten by a dog."

He wasn't afraid of word reaching the Crown Prince. If that man wanted to kill him, he would welcome it. Besides, the original owner had always spoken without restraint in front of Madam Shen.